"Customizing" Die-Cuts to Create a Holiday Card - Hero Arts
Posted by Jessica Frost-Ballas on August 21, 2019

"Customizing" Die-Cuts to Create a Holiday Card

Good morning! Jess here with a Christmas card to get you in the mood for tomorrow's Oh What Fun release and blog hop! Today I'm combining an add-on from August's My Monthly Hero release with some older holiday sets (and a little customization) to create a festive holiday card!

To start I found a public domain Christmas song (meaning no longer protected by copyright laws and safe to reproduce!) and printed it on regular copy paper. Then I used my printer to resize it until it could fit perfectly on the largest Scroll Infinity Die. Then I printed it once more onto Hero Hues Sand Cardstock using the manual feed tray. You could also take paper to an office supply store for printing if your printer can't handle thick cardstock. Then I die-cut the cardstock with the Scroll Infinity Die and blended Caramel and Cup O' Joe Ink around the edges to give it a more antique look. I adhered it to a piece of Hero Hues Cherry Cardstock and then adhered that to a Hero Hues Dove White Top Folded Card Base.

Next I stamped the Color Layering Cardinal using Pale Tomato, Crimson, Mulled Wine, and Intense Black Ink and stamped the branch with Cup O' Joe Ink before die-cutting them with the coordinating dies. I also stamped and die-cut branches from the Color Layering Trimmings set using Forever Green and Field Greens Ink. I trimmed a vellum banner and created a jagged edge by die-cutting the end of the banner with the edge of the Scroll Infinity Die. Then I stamped a sentiment from Color Layering Poinsettia with Clear Embossing & Watermark Ink and heat-embossed it with Gold Embossing Powder.

I adhered the branches to the card with regular adhesive and then used foam mounting tape to add my cardinal. I adhered the vellum sentiment to the back of the cardinal's head to keep it in place. To finish the card I added Snowfall and our soon-to-be-released Icicle Glitter to the branches using Crystal Clear Lacquer and added a little dimension to the bird's eye with Crystal Clear Lacquer. I love how the Icicle Glitter adds a lot of sparkle to the branches while the little bit of Snowfall Glitter adds a different color pop to the sparkle!

Thanks so much for joining me today and I hope this gives you some inspiration for your holiday crafting! We'll see you tomorrow for the launch and blog hop!

24 comments

This card is just stunning, it so detailed from the music sheet to the cardinal, it’s so beautiful! Great job

Dannielle Ortolani,

Your card is fantastic! I haven’t used the cardinal stamp on awhile and this is a great idea for Christmas cards. May I ask what printer you have that takes cardstock? Mine recently died and its difficult to find printers that take 65 # cardstock or higher. I was looking at both inkjet and laser. Would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you for sharing your card.

Kathy R,

Great idea with printing the music to size for the scroll die, that’s a handy technique. Btw, snowfall glitter?! I can’t wait to get some of that! Thanks once again for more awesome inspiration, Jess!

Stephanie B,

I love Cardinals. This one looks like it is layered. I love how the new layer stamps make things look like you’ve paper layered them instead of just stamping. A truly beautiful card.

Shirley Wallen,

Such a beautiful card, so full of interest and layers. The color-layering cardinal is fabulous!

Beth Merrill,

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